Visayan?

[Marcus]

I recently acquired this from Oriental Arms. Artzi makes a qualified attribution to the Visayan. Comments, concurrence, alternative opinions?

[Sajen]

Hello Marcus,

yes, I agree with Artzi, it is a Visayan tenegre. Age will be around turn of the centuries. Nice piece, sadly it's missing it's scabbard. Do a little bit search with the keyword "tenegre" and you will find similar examples.
Here the examples from my own collection:
1. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=tenegre
2. http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...hlight=tenegre

Regards,
Detlef

[Battara]

Yup - a Visayan teenager alright. Might even be from Panay island in the Visayas.

[DaveA]

Visayan, agreed. I think you might also have a relatively rare diety pommel.

The origin of the diety type pommel is lost in time. Some speculate the demonic features scares the spirit of the one killed so it does not return to haunt the wielder of the sword. Others believe they are likenesses of the pirates who used to roam the seas near the Visayan islands. Another theory is that the shapes are remnants from animistic religions before the advent of Christianity and Islam in the region.

Pictures show a diety pommel in my collection, found on a talibon.

Dave A

[Battara]

I'm not sure this form is that rare. I have seen this on many tenegres. You can do a search on this site and find them. There is a common theory that this is the deity Bakunawa.

However Dave, yours is different.

[Sajen]

Originally Posted by DaveA

Visayan, agreed. I think you might also have a relatively rare diety pommel.

Sorry, like Jose I can't see a rare deity form in this Bakunawa hilt, it's the most common form.
Do also a little bit search by the keyword "Bakunawa" and you will find some hints of the origin of this hilts. Look for example this thread, post #4: http://www.vikingsword.com/vb/showth...light=bakunawa

Regards,
Detlef